U.S. patent number 4,688,269 [Application Number 06/890,239] was granted by the patent office on 1987-08-25 for protector for sportswear.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Descente, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Seiichi Maeshima.
United States Patent |
4,688,269 |
Maeshima |
August 25, 1987 |
Protector for sportswear
Abstract
In sportswear for use in a variety of sports games or
competition such as skiing, riding, motorbiking and the like, this
invention relates to a protector for sportswear which has the
function of protecting a wearer's body as a result of being
attached to a location which tends to collide with the
obstacle.
Inventors: |
Maeshima; Seiichi (Osaka,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Descente, Ltd. (Osaka,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
8195293 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/890,239 |
Filed: |
July 29, 1986 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/456; 2/16;
2/22; 2/24; 2/461 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D
1/082 (20130101); A63B 71/08 (20130101); A41D
13/0556 (20130101); A41D 13/0153 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A41D
1/08 (20060101); A41D 1/06 (20060101); A41D
13/015 (20060101); A63B 71/08 (20060101); A41D
013/06 (); A41D 013/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;2/16,22,23,24,2,2.5 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Rimrodt; Louis K.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Schwartz & Weinrieb
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A protection system for use in combination with sportswear
apparel, comprising:
a section of said sportswear apparel upon which said protection
system is to be employed;
at least one shock-absorbing pad fixedly secured to the external
surface of said section of said sportswear apparel for providing
shock absorbing properties to a portion of the anatomy of the
wearer of said apparel;
at least one hard cover plate disposed externally of said at least
one shock-absorbing pad so as to cover and protect said at least
one shock-absorbing pad; and
means for mounting said at least one hard cover plate upon said
sportswear apparel such that said at least one hard cover plate is
spatially separated from said at least one shock-absorbing pad
whereby a floating shock-absorbing system is defined between said
at least one hard cover plate and said least one shock-absorbing
pad.
2. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said at least one hard cover plate is fabricated from a hard
plastic material.
3. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said at least one shock-absorbing pad is fabricated from
rubber.
4. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said mounting means is fabricated from rubber.
5. A system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:
means for detachably mounting said at least one hard cover plate
upon said mounting means spatially separating said at least one
hard cover plate from said at least one shock-absorbing pad.
6. A system as set forth in claim 5, wherein:
said means for detachably mounting said at least one hard cover
plate upon said mounting means comprises bolt fasteners.
7. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said at least one shock-absorbing pad comprises a plurality of
shock-absorbing pads spatially separated from each other in the
lateral direction along the external surface of said wearing
apparel.
8. A system as set forth in claim 7, wherein:
said plurality of shock-absorbing pads are integrally connected
together by means of slender connecting portions.
9. A system as set forth in claim 7, wherein:
said mounting means spatially separating said at least one hard
cover plate from said at least one shock-absorbing pad is
integrally connected with another one of said shock-absorbing
pads.
10. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said at least one shock-absorbing paid is embedded within said
section of said sportswear apparel.
11. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said section of said sportswear apparel to which said protection
system is applied is the femoral front region of said apparel for
protecting the femoral front portion of said anatomy.
12. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said section of said sportswear apparel to which said protection
system is applied is the knee region of said apparel for protecting
the knee portion of said anatomy.
13. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said section of said sportswear apparel to which said protection
system is applied is the leg region of said apparel for protecting
the leg portion of said anatomy.
14. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said section of said sportswear apparel to which said protection
system is applied is the elbow region of said apparel for
protecting the elbow portion of said anatomy.
15. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said section of said sportswear apparel to which said protection
system is applied is the upper arm region of said apparel for
protecting the upper arm portion of said anatomy.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to protectors for sportswear, and more
particularly to protectors for sportswear which are used in various
sportswear such as ski wear, or riding wear and the like, and
having the function of protecting the wearer's body as a result of
being attached to locations which tend to collide with
obstacles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Heretofore, apparel for sports of vigorous or active physical
exercises have been developed and used as shown in FIG. 6 in which
pads 51 made of materials such as hard rubber and the like are
attached to the front of the femoral region, knee region, leg
region, elbow region and the front of the upper arm of the
sportswear 50, and such sportswear act as sufficient buffers for
protective functions.
However, in games or competitive sports in recent years, the speed
of the exercise has become much faster, more vigorous and more
active. The layout of pads 51 are placed on the essential parts of
the sportswear 50 however, such have proven insufficient buffers
for their protective functions. Normally the shocks undergone by
the body when colliding with other obstacles are usually extremely
large, resulting in the frequent occurrence of injurious accidents
such as broken bones and the like. The pads 51 and the sportswear
50 themselves are not damaged by the collisions, unlike previous
products which were problematic in this respect.
In view of this constraint, efforts to develop protectors for
sportswear with effective buffer protective functions have been
made for sports or competitive games. Tests have been conducted for
their use at different speeds, but materials having the required
degree of shock-absorption are not easily sewn into flexible
sportswear. Usually when the sportsman wears such rigid clothing,
it is uncomfortable and severely restrains movement, making such
sportswear impractical.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been made in view of the foregoing problems, and
its object is to provide protectors for sportswear which are
attached to locations of the body which tend to collide with
obstacles in order positively to protect the wearer's body from
accidents. This eliminates damage of the pads and the sportswear
for sports or competitive games accompanied by vigorous or active
exercises such as skiing, riding, motorbiking and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The protector for sportwear of this invention is that the protector
is made of hard cover plates similar to hard plastic plates
covering the front portions of desired pads. For example the
femoral front pad, knee pad, leg pad, elbow pad and the upper arm
front pad are placed at the desired positions such as the femoral
front region, knee region, leg region, elbow region and the upper
arm front region. It is fixed to the sportswear either directly or
indirectly. Accordingly, the structure for attaching the protector
may be an exclusive structure independent of the pad or may be a
member which also functions as a part of the pad.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Various other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the
present invention will become more fully apparent as the same
becomes better understood when consideration in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 1 and 7 are elevation of a skipants and a ski jacket,
respectively, which is cut-away showing an embodiment of a
protector for sportswear of this invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross section taken along a line II--II in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 through FIG. 5 are cross sections of the enlarged portions
showing another embodiment of this invention; and
FIG. 6 is a cross section of an enlarged portion showing a
conventional protector.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The protector for sportswear according to this invention is
constructed in such a way that the front of various pads such as
the femoral front pad, knee pad, leg pad, elbow pad, the upper arm
front pad and the like placed at essential portions of the
sportswear are covered with hard cover plates. Such plates are
fixed to the sportswear interchangeably by means of an elastic
supporting structure, so that pads are interposed between the hard
cover plates and the wearer's body. Accordingly, when a sportsman
wearing a protector for sports has a collision accident with an
obstacle during its use, the obstacle and the hard cover plate come
into contact in the first place causing the hard cover plate to
absorb the frictional forces in the surface direction. The wearer's
body is protected by the surface thickness of the pad, which
effectively absorbs the shock of the collision. Also, when the pad
is made in such a way that it does not hinder the flexibility of
the sportsman, both comfortability and mobility can be maintained.
At the same time when the wearer collides with the obstacle, the
pad of the colliding portion and the sportswear are protected by
the hard cover plate to prevent them both from damage. Also, even
when the hard cover plate is broken, it can be interchanged and
replaced by attaching a new hard cover plate structure to the
sportswear.
EMBODIMENT
An embodiment of the protector for sportswear according to this
invention will be described by referring to the attached drawings
in which FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show skipants illustrating a first
embodiment. The femoral front, knee region, and leg region of
skipants 1, knee protector 3, and leg protector 4 are formed by
covering the front surface of a pad 6 with the hard cover plate 7
for the femoral front region, hard cover plate 8 for the knee
region, hard cover plate 9 for the leg region, the pad 6 being so
as to be fixed to the surface of the sportswear material 5 having
elasticity by bonding or fusing, and each of the hard cover plates
7, 8, 9 is formed from a hard plastic having excellent shockproof
characteristics. For example, it can be formed by composite
materials reinforced with, for example, glass fiber, carbon fiber
and the like in addition to polycarbonate, ABS, polyester,
polyamide and the like. Also, each pad 6 can be preferably formed
from an elastic material such as rubber and the like, and in each
part, its structure is such that each part is separated by a
predetermined small gap in the surface direction and thus
flexibility of the sportswear material 5 is maintained.
Each of the hard cover plates 7, 8, 9 is fixed to the sportswear 5
by means of an elastic supporting structure 12 in which support
pads 10 bonded or fused to the sportswear material 5 are provided
between the states and the sportswear by screws 11 inserted from
the hard cover plate side into threaded blind holes formed within
the support pads 10, the pad 10 being made of an elastic material
of the same quality as the support pad 6 but of a heavier thickness
than that of the pad 6 Each of the hard cover plates 7, 8, 9
interposed between the support pads 10 thus constitutes a floating
structure having a gap between the under surface thereof and the
pad 6. Also, the hard cover plates 7, 8, 9 can be interchanged with
other hard cover plates by loosening the mounting screws 11 of the
elastic supporting structure 12.
The hard cover plate 7 for the femoral front region and the hard
cover plate 9 for the knee region of the femoral front protector 2
and the knee region protector 4 respectively can form the an
integral construction covering the region, but the hard cover plate
8 of the knee region protector 3 is preferably formed of several
structures in a laterally expanding direction so as not to
interfere with the freedom of the skipants 1.
The sportswear protector having the foregoing construction is
constructed in such a way that the pad 6 and the support pad 10 are
interposed between the hard cover plates 7, 8, 9 and the wearer's
body when a person puts the sportswear on. Accordingly, during its
use, when each of the femoral front protector 2, knee region
protector 3, and leg region protector 4 comes into contact with an
obstacle, the friction in the surface direction is initially
absorbed as a result of the contact with the hard coated plates 7,
8, 9. Accordingly, the wearer's body collides with the under
surfaces of the femoral front pad hard cover plates 7, 8, 9
generally in the surface direction by means of the pad 6 and the
support pad 10, producing a buffer action effectively absorbing the
shock of the collision. Since the hard cover plates 7, 8, 9 perform
the protection, and there is no direct contact of the pad 6 on the
region and the sportswear material 5 with the obstacle as a result
of the collision, breakage of the pad 6 or damage to the sportswear
material 5 can be prevented. Furthermore, even in the case that the
hard cover plates 7, 8, 9 are broken, the hard cover plates 7, 8, 9
can be interchanged by the elastic supporting structure 12.
Next, FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of this invention in which
pad 6 is embedded within the upper surface layers of the sportswear
material 5.
FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of this invention in which the
support pad 10 is integrally formed with the divided outside pad
6.
FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of this invention and showing a
construction in which each divided pad 6, 6, 6 . . . is connected
so as to form an integral unit by means of a slender connecting
portion 6a.
By the way, the foregoing embodiments are related to the skipants
but in respect of all ski wear, this invention can be applied to
the elbow region protector and the upper arm front protector of,
for example, a ski jacket 21 as illustrated in FIG. 7. The elbow
and upper arm protectors 23 include the same components as those
described in connection with the skipants of FIG. 1, so
consequently, further detailed description is deemed unnecessary.
It can also be easily interchanged and put into practice with other
sportswear used in a variety of games and competitions.
As described in the foregoing, the protector for sportswear of this
invention can protect the wearer's body positively by absorbing
strong shocks. When collision occurs this has a special effect of
limiting the accident, and can also prevent damage to the
sportswear material and the pads. In addition, since the hard cover
plate is attached to the sportswear in a floating structure, the
comfortable feeling does not deteriorate as a result of the
rigidness and damage to the sportswear material. Even in instances
of heavy sports usage, strenuous activites can be continued since
the hard cover plate is a rigid material made of hard plastic.
Moreover, the protector for sportswear of this invention is
constructed in such a way that it is made of a hard cover plate
which is detachable by means of the elastic supporting structure.
Since its detachment is extremely simple, it can easily be removed
from the sportswear for cleaning or storing. Also in case the hard
cover plate is broken, it can be easily interchanged. These are
valuable features of this invention, which make it extemely
practical.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is
therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended
claims, the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described herein.
* * * * *